In the penalty shoot-out
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England won the European Championship quarter-final against Switzerland 6:4 on Saturday after a penalty shoot-out. The "Three Lions" struggled for a long time. The Swiss even took the lead in the 75th minute through Breel Embolo. However, Bukayo Saka equalized five minutes later to force extra time. As no decision was reached there either, the game went to a penalty shoot-out.
England are the third team to reach the semi-finals of the European Football Championship in Germany. The "Three Lions" defeated Switzerland 5:3 on penalties in Düsseldorf on Saturday. The match-winner was Jordan Pickford, who saved the first Swiss penalty. After 120 minutes, the score was 1:1. Coach Gareth Southgate's squad will now face either the Netherlands or Turkey in the final round on Wednesday in Dortmund.
After a match that had not been very exciting up to that point, Switzerland took the lead through Breel Embolo in the 75th minute in front of 46,907 spectators, but Bukayo Saka responded five minutes later with a fine individual move to make it 1-1 - it was England's first shot on goal. The game then went into extra time, in which no goals were scored. In the penalty shoot-out, Pickford saved Manuel Akanji's first Swiss attempt, which was neither particularly sharp nor well-placed.
This is the third time in Southgate's tenure that England have reached the semi-finals of a major tournament. At the 2018 World Cup, they were knocked out by Croatia, while at the European Championship three years ago, England only lost to Italy in the final on penalties.
After a number of anemic performances, England fielded a back three for the first time in Germany. Kyle Walker and John Stones as well as Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa filled this with life, with Konsa replacing the suspended Marc Guéhi from Crystal Palace. Saka played on the right and Kieran Trippier on the left on the flanks. Switzerland fielded exactly the same line-up as in their 2-0 win over Italy in the round of 16.
The two teams largely neutralized each other in the first half, with England having more possession and displaying a better passing quality than last time out. However, there were no chances to be seen in Düsseldorf. Saka was often sought and found by his colleagues up front, but was either just offside or his passes lacked precision and sharpness.
In attack, the Swiss "Nati" initially lacked any real competence, which only became apparent after the change of sides. Embolo's 51st-minute roller into the arms of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the first noteworthy action in the opposition penalty area. A little later, coach Adi Hütter's protégé at AS Monaco just failed to connect with a Rodriguez cross.
Switzerland were now more hungry to score than their opponents from the island, so the 1:0 lead came as no surprise. After a sharp cross from Dan Ndoye, Stones was unable to clear the ball centrally in the 75th minute and Embolo got away from Walker. The athletic striker only had to slot home from close range. Just five minutes later, however, Saka equalized with a dream goal from the edge of the box via the inside of the post. Not much happened after that until extra time. In the third minute of stoppage time, Embolo and Ndoye missed a dangerous Schär cross from the right in the middle.
In the first extra period, Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer had to stretch himself mightily with a Declan Rice hammer (95'), but remained almost unoccupied thereafter. The two teams were mainly concerned with not taking too many risks - the result was even more ball shuffling in midfield. The highlights: Substitute Xherdan Shaqiri put a corner kick straight onto the crossbar in the 117th minute, then Pickford saved from an Amdouni shot. The exhausted Three Lions stars Harry Kane and Phil Foden had already left the field by then.
England - Switzerland 1:1 after extra time (1:1, 0:0), 5:3 on penalties
Düsseldorf, refereed by Orsato (ITA).
Goals:
0:1 (75') Embolo
1:1 (80') Saka
Penalty shoot-out:
1:0 - Palmer scores
1:0 - Akanji fails to beat Pickford
2:0 - Bellingham scores
2:1 - Schär scores
3:1 - Saka scores
3:2 - Shaqiri scores
4:2 - Toney scores
4:3 - Amdouni scores
5:3 - Alexander-Arnold scores
England: Pickford - Walker, Stones, Konsa (78. Palmer) - Saka, Mainoo (78. Eze), Rice, Trippier (78. Shaw) - Bellingham, Foden (115. Alexander-Arnold) - Kane (109. Toney)
Switzerland: Sommer - Schär, Akanji, Rodriguez - Ndoye (98. Zakaria), Freuler (118. Amdouni), Xhaka, Aebischer (118. Sierro) - Rieder (64. Widmer), Vargas (64. Zuber) - Embolo (109. Shaqiri)
Yellow cards: Kane or Schär, Widmer
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